Abusive Relationship

What’s Memorable: That the ex-husband who horrifically abused her and triggered her addiction, after having gone through anger management, has somehow become the better parent. That’s saying a lot. When he apologizes during the intervention for hurting her, her response is really emotional and I imagine pretty cathartic. Also it’s amazing how powerful the force of wanting to be a better parent is to most addicts. It’s quite often that the children are the reason why they decide to go to treatment and it was definitely the biggest reason in Abbie’s case.

Official Synopsis: Abbie was a young mom with dreams of going to college for photography. But she was hiding a dark secret from her family. Her boyfriend, and father of her daughter, had become physically and mentally abusive. The beatings escalated, and Abbie ended up in surgery after a punch to the face shattered bones and required three metal plates. Abbie began drinking excessively to cope with the abuse. Though she finally pressed charges after he threw boiling soup on her, Abbie is now a fullblown alcoholic. Her parents are raising her daughter while Abbie lives nearby with a new boyfriend who enables her addiction. Her alcoholism has gotten so bad that Abbie already has chronic liver, kidney, and bone marrow damage. Without help, Abbie’s family fears that her daughter will lose her mom for good.

KayleneAge: 21Location: Barnardsville, North CarolinaAddiction: Pain meds (Percocet mostly) and XananxWhat’s memorable: Girl gets giddy when she’s high! At least when she’s not passing out. She seems really convinced that she’s super happy and loving her life. Her entire goal right now is to just have a good time and get away from all the pain she’s had in her life. I get that. But she is SO not seeing how it’s affecting the people she loves. Watching her mother and 7 year old sister go through the little girl’s penny jar in order to give Kaylene money for drugs is pretty awful and heartwrenching. And that intervention! Holy crap, the tears, they were rollin. There’s a reason why these things work – having someone you love dearly say the thing you’ve been wanting them to say forever, to show emotion that you didn’t know they were capable of, is an incredibly powerful thing.

Official Synopsis: As a child, Kaylene was physically abused by her father. Later, she and her mother began using coke together. Now Kaylene is a 21-year-old who oozes sweetness and charm but who is unafraid to die and will stop at nothing to get her next fix. After so many years of neglect, can Kaylene’s family finally step up and help her get the live-saving treatment she so desperately needs?

PamAge: 49Location: UnsureAddiction: AlcoholWhat’s memorable: How needy and depressed and downright annoying she gets when she’s drunk, the childhood abuse that still haunts her everyday and that she is obviously self-medicating to deal with.

Official Synopsis: Pam is a 49-year-old alcoholic who has suffered a string of abusive, failed marriages and horrific molestation as a child. Drinking is her only way to cope. Her frightened family has already lost one sibling to cirrhosis of the liver. Their greatest fear is that Pam will fall to the same fate unless an intervention can save her life.

What’s memorable: Hospitalized 20 times for alcohol-related injuries – Yikes! How her parents are both alcoholics but deny that that has anything to do with Tiffany’s problem. How AMAZING she looked after treatment – her followup video is a must watch.

Official Synopsis: A tall, beautiful brunette, Tiffany maintained a perfect GPA in high school and played Varsity basketball. But despite her achievements, Tiffany’s childhood was plagued by her parents’ violent marriage and their drug and alcohol abuse. She married at 19 to escape the pain of her youth, but her controlling husband forced her to move back in with her mother. Battling feelings of worthlessness, Tiffany self-medicated with alcohol. Now, she has been hospitalized numerous times for alcohol-related injuries and has attempted suicide.

LaneyAge: 36Location: KansasAddiction: Alcohol (rum)What’s Memorable: This is the rich crazy lady who takes limos across the country so she can bring her cat and drink. Her story is much more than that though. Yes, Laney is a disaster; what’s upsetting is seeing how far she’s fallen and how little hope she has.

Official synopsis: Laney is an outgoing, intelligent 36-year-old woman who used to have the kind of life other people dream of: a handsome, loving husband, plenty of money and the opportunity to travel the world. Unfortunately, all the wealth and status in the world could not help Laney escape alcoholism. She lost her husband, her health and is quickly spending what’s left of her sizable divorce settlement on endless bottles of rum. Her organs are deteriorating fast and Laney is too weak to take care of herself. She is so dependent on attention from her frustrated family that Laney will attempt suicide in an effort to win back their love. But will her damaged body survive yet another trip to the ICU?

GloriaAge: 53Location: Bay Area, CaliforniaAddiction: AlcoholWhat’s Memorable: Given the number of years Gloria has been an alcoholic, and her denial of having a problem, it was absolutely shocking that she agreed to treatment and then actually got sober. Probably the most surprising “yes, I’ll go” that I’ve seen.

Official synopsis: At 53, Gloria prides herself on being a good cook and an independent, fun-loving woman. But Gloria uses her cooking and charm to manipulate her family into letting her drink as much as she wants. Gloria had difficulty raising her children, and was married to an abusive man. At 42, Gloria got breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy and radiation but did not stop drinking. Now Gloria drinks and drives, misses work, and spends all her money on alcohol. Gloria’s family has had enough of her selfishness, and they’re ready for an intervention.

SylviaAge: 49Location: North CarolinaAddiction: AlcoholWhat’s Memorable: Sylvia has a truly powerful and memorable story. The crying for her babies, the drinking out of little liquor bottles in her car during work, the drinking at work, the stealing wine in her mother’s kitchen and getting too drunk to go to the game she had wanted so badly to be sober for. She’s also a very inspiring story. She ended up being an addiction counselor and joined the show as an Interventionist a few years ago.

Official synopsis: Sylvia had four wonderful kids, a strong marriage, and a successful business. But when family tragedies struck, Sylvia looked for solace in the bottle, and today she is a frail, vulnerable, alcoholic. An intervention is her only hope.

RachelAge: 21Location: New York CityAddiction: Heroin, cocaineWhat’s memorable: The only New York City street junkie that’s been profiled on the show. The seriously messed up boyfriend who told her he’d dump her if she went to treatment. How much better she looked after treatment.

Official synopsis: drug addict living on the streets, Rachel uses her “street kid” lifestyle to defy society and her father, with whom she’s had a strained relationship since her parents’ divorce. Rachel started experimenting with cocaine and meth at 14, and using heroin at 16. She survived on the streets with the help of her boyfriend until he was sent to jail. Now Rachel must fend for herself. Can an intervention mend her relationship with her father and save her from herself?

Tiffany D.Age: 25Location: Escalon, CaliforniaAddiction: MethWhat’s memorable: Girl’s a serious tweaker. I know skin pickers in real life but I’ve never seen an addict pick their face on this show. It’s so jarring to watch. Also memorable: Her grandparents’ denial and the surprising follow-up.

Official synopsis: Tiffany, a former athlete and cheerleader who dreamed of a career in the medical field, has no intention of giving up her IV crystal meth addiction, despite the fact that her four-year-old son is being cared for by her family